Whārangi 1. Contribution to the economy

Market gardening is an intense form of vegetable and
cut-flower production in which crops are grown continuously.
It occurs outdoors and under cover in greenhouses.

Trade

Until the 1990s a New Zealand market garden was typically
a small-scale, family-owned business operating on a few
hectares of land. But, increasingly, crops to be sold fresh
and processed are being grown on a larger scale by big
national or international companies.

Garden location

Suitable sites for market gardens are located throughout
New Zealand. Fertile soils with good physical structure on
flat or gently sloping land are needed for outdoor vegetable
cultivation. About 5% of New Zealand’s soils (1,120,000
hectares) fit this description, but in 2007 only 55,360
hectares of land grew vegetable crops.

Vegetables

Vegetable production is a multi-million-dollar business in
New Zealand, worth NZ$1,456 million in 2007. Domestic
production accounted for about 60% of the value of the
industry. Export of fresh and processed vegetables earned
$566 million in 2007 and comprised a fifth of New Zealand’s
horticultural exports.

More than 50 different vegetables are grown commercially
in New Zealand. Potatoes, onions and squash are the main
crops. In 2007, 1,450 growers raised crops for fresh
vegetable markets and 750 growers supplied the processed
vegetable sector.

Flowers and ornamental plants

New Zealand has a small flower export industry worth about
$70 million in 2007. The export industry of bulbs and cut
flowers developed in the 1970s. Few growers are involved in
export, about 20 were responsible for 95% of flower exports
in 2007. In contrast, 400 full-time flower growers and
another 800 part-time growers supplied the domestic
cut-flower trade, estimated to be worth $60 million in sales
in 2007.

Vegetable seeds

Vegetable seed exports were worth $38 million in 2007.
Vegetable seed cropping is centred on the Canterbury region
on some 3,000 hectares of land. New Zealand growers act as
multiplying agents for northern hemisphere companies, raising
seed crops during the northern hemisphere autumn and winter
seasons, and then air freighting the harvest back to northern
companies in time for spring sowing.